Somatic Therapy (Body Centered)

My graduate degree is in somatic psychotherapy and a lot of the trainings I have attended since graduating have focused on neuroscience and body based interventions. I don't have particular certifications because I studied many different modalities in school. We experience the world around us through our bodies, so the healing has to include the body. I typically start with education about how our bodies process the world and then utilize body based interventions.

I am trained in Reichian Somatic Therapy, a body-centered approach that helps release stored trauma by working with physical tension, breath, and movement. This method, rooted in the work of Wilhelm Reich, recognizes that emotional pain is held in the body. Through breathwork and body awareness techniques, I help clients access and release deep-seated trauma, allowing for greater emotional regulation, self-connection, and healing from long-standing patterns of distress.

Body-Centered therapy operates from the belief that emotional issues (e.g. stress, trauma, anxiety, grief, depression) manifest as physical symptoms and that healing occurs when the mind-body connection is strengthened. Somatic therapy supports clients in connecting to “the messages of the body” in order to provide deep understanding, healing, and transformation.

Everything in life is a physical, mental, social, and spiritual experience. Yet, many of us are disconnected from our bodies. I believe that our bodies are vessels of wisdom from which we hold our experiences of pain, joy, belonging, intuition, and information. Through the process of slowing down and noticing, we can uncover a well of resources you already have within you, as well as heal from a foundational level. I am a Certified Somatic Attachment Therapist.

SE is body-oriented approach to the healing of trauma and other stress disorders developed by Dr. Peter Levine. It offers a framework to assess where you are “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states by focusing on body sensations and releasing stuck energy while building upon and strengthening your resiliency.

I am trained in Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, EMDR, and Brainspotting. I am certified in Safe and Sound Protocol as well.

Somatic and mindfulness-based approaches help people build a more fine-tuned and conscious relationship with their mind-body connection. These methods can help with: 1) Staying more grounded and embodied in the present moment, 2) Building a toolbox for being with difficult inner experiences in the present moment, 3) Listening and responding to internal cues / information from the mind-body connection, 4) Moving and digesting remnants of trauma and stress lodged in the mind-body connection.

“This is your body, your greatest gift, pregnant with wisdom you do not hear, grief you thought was forgotten, and joy you have never known.” -Marion Woodman. Neuroscientific research shows there is no separation between body and mind. We feel symptoms of anxiety, depression, or trauma in the body: racing heart, churning stomach, fatigue, aches and pains. I use gentle, safe, somatic methods to help clients process experiences and learn simple, effective somatic skills to reduce symptoms.

My 2nd masters is in Somatic Counseling as well as my post-degree training in Hakomi Somatic Therapy and Relational Somatic Healing. Prior to this I co-founded an organization to explore healing through movement. I also have a podcast called Therapy and The Body. All this to say that including the body in therapy is a primary aspect of my clinical approach. We have bodies and our bodies have experienced our pain, trauma, joy and delight. Life and healing happens in the body.

Somatic Experiencing helps clients process trauma by addressing how it’s stored in the body and nervous system. As an intermediate-level Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) qualifier in the second year of a rigorous three-year training program, I bring extensive expertise to this approach. This training includes multi-day intensives, case consultations, and personal sessions. I use SE to help clients release stress, regulate their nervous systems, and foster resilience and healing

I offer trauma informed body centered therapy for managing nervous system to help you deal with anxiety, overthinking and being overwhelmed. I have studied Somatic Nature Therapy with Katie Asmus at Somatic Nature Therapy Institute in Boulder, Colorado and have a certification in Somatic Embodiment and Regulation Strategies from Linda Thai.

Somatic Psychology (body-mind psychotherapy, body-oriented psychotherapy, etc.) is a holistic form of therapy that respects and utilizes the powerful connection between body, mind, and spirit. How we are in this world, how we relate to ourselves and others, is not just purely about the mind or our thoughts, but is also deeply rooted in our bodies and our spirits. Unlike traditional talk therapy or cognitive therapy, Somatic Psychology tends to be more experiential and powerful.

Somatic therapy incorporates the intelligent healing power of the body into the therapy room. A neuroscientifically researched approach, somatic therapy reaches well beyond the limitations of "talk therapy". This approach moves into the realm of how our bodies have processed wellbeing, stress and trauma throughout our lives and incorporates experimenting with : breath, movement, alignment and other "bottom-up" interventions to aid the progress of healing.

I invite you to take a moment now, to check in with your body. You don't need to change a thing physically, just allow your attention to shift inward as you continue to look at your phone or computer screen. What do you notice? By acknowledging and accessing our body's intelligence, therapy is much more effective and deeper than psychoanalysis alone. In our work, we will gently explore what it's like for you to be in your body, guiding you towards increased feelings of safety comfort and ease.

What does somatic therapy mean and look like? Implicit memories (the ones without a movie in our head) are stored in the body keep people stuck. These memories can be released and accessed to heal the body and the mind with or without the story being shared or even touched. Together we bring on regulation, safety, with a compassionate witness to have a felt sense of being seen, heard and understood. Internalizing the safety into your body is the thrive of health.

My favorite way of working includes the body. When the body mind connection are recognized, you access your wisest self. You also experience an improvement in mood, a decrease in anxiety, and experience more fulfilling connections with yourself and with others.

Somatic therapy is a form of body-centered therapy that looks at the connection of mind and body and uses both traditional talk therapy and physical therapies for holistic healing. In addition to talk therapy, I use mind-body exercises and other physical techniques to help release the pent-up tension and trauma that negatively affects a person’s physical and emotional wellbeing.

Certified in Somatic Embodiment and Regulation Strategies, I help clients heal trauma, anxiety, and stress by reconnecting with the body’s innate wisdom. Through gentle, trauma-informed practices like somatic awareness, breathwork, and nervous system regulation, I empower clients to release stored trauma, restore balance, and build resilience. My holistic, client-centered approach fosters emotional healing, peace, and clarity, offering tools to navigate life with greater confidence and harmony.

Working through a bottom-up approach, developing somatic awareness